


Curative

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Human AU, Pearl's a physics teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-20 13:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Pearl dragged herself through the door of the house, exhausted and enfeebled beyond belief. It had been a horrible week.
 Or, Pearl is the best mom ever, and nobody can convince me otherwise.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a wonderful picture and concept Author45 drew a while back. 
> 
> http://author45.deviantart.com/art/Life-as-a-lost-defective-Pearl-552858581

Pearl groaned as she stepped into the house, heels of her hands digging into her eyes. The week was finally over. While she did not exactly _dislike_ high school students, hearing “Ms. Blanchett, how do I break this vector into its components,” half a dozen times every hour tends to grate on any rational person’s nerves. 

Sighing, Pearl placed her bag on the living room table, slinging her coat upon a hangar with limp hands. At the current moment, Pearl would have preferred leaping head-first into an endless abyss to actually grading anything. Glancing out the front window, Pearl noted that her car was presently the only one home. 

A persistent throbbing migraine wove its way into the forefront of Pearl’s skull, emerging from the background it had inhabited for a good portion of the day. She attempted to push it to the back of her mind with great futility. Muttering of the eternal pestering grievances of one Peridot fucking Olivine, whom she would regard as the most egregious of the sources of her present mental situation, Pearl stepped into the kitchen. 

Brushing a lock of dyed peach hair out of her eyes, Pearl examined the room. A half-unzipped backpack was slung upon the back of one of the chairs at the kitchen table. The table was scattered with a variety of mathematics-related material. A textbook, calculator, and scratch paper were of the most coherent prominence. A child was seated at the table, puzzling over the paper with a pencil in hand. He looked up, smiling immediately thereafter.

“Oh! Hey, Pearl! Didn’t see you there.”

Pearl weakly grinned in response, enduring the throbbing in her head all the while.

“Hey, Steven. How was school?”

“It was pretty fun. Connie told me about this new series of books at lunch, and I came up with this new idea for a song.” 

Pearl’s flimsy grin evolved into a legitimate smile. Horrific week aside, it was always enjoyable to hear that Steven was enjoying life. Pearl raised a playful eyebrow, interested.

“Oh?”

Steven put his pencil down, nodding enthusiastically.

“Yeah! You can hear it when it’s finished.”  
“You know I can’t wait.”

Pearl weakly pulled open a cabinet, carefully extracting dual plates, and setting them upon the island. Steven hesitated a little, watching Pearl turn away all the while. Slowly, he broke the only quasi-comfortable silence.

“So… how was work?”

Initially reaching for the handle of the refrigerator, Pearl froze. Thoughts raced about in her mind. Should she burden Steven with the reality of her horrific week? Perhaps she should just keep Steven happy and unaware of the crushing lack of faith she currently had in humanity. Pearl danced internally from option to option for only a few moments more, before thoughtlessly spitting out an answer, too detached-sounding for even Pearl’s own liking.

“It was fine.”

Steven’s eyes flickered away from Pearl for a moment, before settling once more on the back of her head. 

“Are you sure? You don’t _sound_ fine.”

Pearl knew the façade was already quivering. She let it crumble around her, slowly sinking to the ground. Rubbing her temples all the while, Pearl finally responded.

“It was _horrid_. The students were all disorderly, I _must_ have been doing a poor job as a teacher, given that they were asking dozens of questions. I…”

Pearl was interrupted by the feeling of a pair of warm arms wrapping themselves around her body. Wordlessly, Pearl sank into Steven’s touch, letting out a long sigh. The two remained upon the floor for a number of minutes, Pearl staring into the wall silently. Steven let her lean against him, utterly quiet save for his own breathing. He cracked through the wall of reticence, if only for a moment.

“You okay?”

Pearl blinked, eyeing Steven.

“No. But, I think I will be.”

They sat in the same relatively uncomfortable position for but a minute or two more, before Steven rose, offering a hand to Pearl. Hesitant for an instant, she drew herself up once more. Looking down at Steven, Pearl smiled.

“Thanks. I needed that.”

Steven only winked, returning to his homework. The throbbing of Pearl’s cranium was a great deal less intrusive now. Returning to work, Pearl grabbed a packet of pasta from a cabinet, turning to the stove. Surprisingly enough, a pot of boiling water already sat upon the thing, awaiting a deposit of fresh carbohydrates with a gaping maw. Pearl raised an eyebrow, glancing over to Steven yet again. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the child informed her of the situation.

“I knew we were having pasta tonight, so I tried to help out! Sorry if I did it wrong.”

Examining the temperature beforehand, Pearl leaned onto the island.

“No, no! It’s perfect. Thank you.”

Pearl tore the package open, and dispensed the pasta into the pot of water. Through a peaceful silence, the two of them worked. Soon enough, the meal was ready. Pearl placed two plates of steaming pasta atop the table. Steven carefully maneuvered his completed homework and accompanying supplies off of the wooden construct. Momentarily ignoring her noticeably smaller portion of the pasta, Pearl discreetly drew her phone from her pocket. Checking her messages, Pearl found a missed one from Amethyst. It denoted that she would be out with Garnet for the night. Noting Steven’s curious eyes, Pearl spoke.

“Garnet and Amethyst are going to be out for the night. It’s just the two of us, for now.”

Steven immediately brightened, an idea fully-formed in his brain.

“We can watch the new episode of Crying Breakfast Friends! It’s coming out tonight.”

“I don’t know… that show makes no sense.”

“ _Please_ , Pearl? Just once?”

Pearl looked away from Steven’s eyes. He was doing the puppy dog thing again. They both knew she couldn’t resist it.

“Oh, _all_ ight. We can watch it together.”

Steven cheered, quickening his eating pace. Pearl, however, picked at her pasta for a few minutes before setting in, stomach still churning from the aftershock of the week proper. Steven’s shining enthusiasm, however, got her to consume the sustenance. Pearl wasn’t exactly a big fan of the concept of food. Sadly, she required it to live. Mere instants after Pearl set her dishes in the sink, a chubby hand grabbed her slender one. Steven practically pulled her upstairs, to the television. He turned it on immediately, practically bouncing with joy.

The sun impaling itself on the sharpened edge of the horizon in the window, the show began. Pearl awkwardly sat beside Steven, upon his bed. As the cartoon burst onto the screen, Steven sung along.

“ _Tears of sorrow, tears of joy,_  
There’ll be tears to the very end,  
Food with feelings,  
Crying Breakfast Friends!”

The show immediately set into its plot. While Pearl didn’t exactly find it amusing (she found it somewhat disturbing, in fact), she certainly appreciated Steven’s passion for the show. The emotional rollercoaster of a generation soon brought itself to a close. Steven turned to Pearl as the credits aired, beaming.

“What’d you think?”

Pearl looked to the screen, then back to Steven. She opened her mouth, wordless in the dying heat of the sun.

“It’s… certainly unique.”

Another episode began to play. Distracted, Steven pulled himself closer to the TV.

“Whaa‽ It’s a marathon? No way! I thought this was _tomorrow_!”

Pearl rolled her eyes playfully at Steven, troubles forgotten.

Hours later, when the child was curled up in her arms, snoring, Pearl stared at the cartoon foods, smiling.

The week might have been bad, but she could count on Steven to cheer her up.

**Author's Note:**

> Perhaps not my best or most coherent work, but I like it. Tell me what you think, or even if you want more of this. I'd certainly be willing to deliver.


End file.
